Michael Joseph Smith

Michael Joseph Smith (born August 13, 1938) is an American composer and pianist born in Tiline, Kentucky. At the age of 6 years, he gave his first concert of original solo piano music in Nashville, Tennessee. After serving in the United States Navy, he studied electro-acoustic music, moving between Boston and New York, and becoming involved with the New England Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School. During this period, he developed a philosophy and notation form of his original music, titled Geomusic, and composed works with this method for various chamber groups, solo piano, and symphony orchestra.

Smith has released 55 recordings of original compositions in 17 countries, featuring artists Jonas Hellborg, Steve Lacy, Michael Shrieve, and Danny Gottlieb. A film portrait of his life titled In Spiritual Exile was premiered in Sweden in 1983, and in the United States in 1984 via National Public Television Network (PBS). In addition, two further films were released about Smith, both titled Virtuosi Studies 1 and 2.

In 2009, Smith co-founded WR Entertainment with James F. Cardwell, Ryan Wiik, Alan E. Bell, Duane M. Eberlein, Øyvind Holm-Johnsen and Steinar Larsen.

Smith embarked on his first European concert tour in 1970, completed his first recordings in Italy and developed an interest in Jazz and improvisation. He moved to Paris in 1972 and completed concert tours and recordings in Western Europe and America with Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton and others. From 1975 to 1976, he recorded various albums in Europe and America and toured, mostly solo, Italy, Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Western Europe, South America and Scandinavia. He also completed his first recordings with computer and piano in conjunction with Swedish composers Tamas Ungvary and Sten Hanson. In 1977, he was admitted to the Swedish Composers Society, and in 1979, he became a member of the International Society for Contemporary Music.

He returned to the United States in 1980 as a composer-in-residence in Atlanta, Georgia. There he completed three ballet projects with various contemporary dance ensembles which culminated in world premiers of the works in Atlanta at the Fox Theater, with the Stars of American Dance. He has been awarded numerous cultural prizes and stipends in Europe and Scandinavia, and has composed scores for films, television projects, and music for 10 major ballet works; mostly in Europe with stage design by Dr. Abelardo Gonzalez, choreographer Conny Borg, and companies the Royal Swedish Ballet.

In 1986, Smith entered a research program with the IBM Corporation of Scandinavia and the Roland Corporation, to compose real-time with computer composition software. In five years, he created 600 new works scored for various ensembles. In December 1988, he performed in Atlanta with prominent American artist Paul Chelko, and began a second artist-in-residency program in Atlanta that lasted until 1990. Since that time, Smith has written for the Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, various European ensembles, ballet companies worldwide and has performed and premiered pieces in Tbilisi, Moscow, Brussels, Kassel (at Documenta IX), Beijing, Xian, Atlanta, Bordeaux (at Sigma), Sydney Opera House, South Africa TV, Hong Kong etc. He has also finished 2 film projects and hosted a performance series in Southern Sweden.

Throughout 1993, Smith lectured and performed at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Bowdoin College in Maine, The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and the Central Conservatories of Music in Beijing and Xian, China, as well as completed three tours to China. He has finished commissions by Musik i Skåne for orchestra and alto saxophone, performed and premiered new compositions at the 100th Olympic Games in Atlanta. Smith was President and CEO of his own corporations World Music (U.S.A.), Inc. & SEATCO, Inc.

Smith co-founded WR Entertainment in September 2009 with James F. Cardwell, Ryan Wiik, Alan E. Bell, Duane M. Eberlein, Øyvind Holm-Johnsen and Steinar Larsen.

Between 1995 and 2004, he was married to Chinese singer Wei Wei. The couple had 3 children. Presently he is married to Loreta Greivyte and resides in Tyringe, Sweden.

• Sidelines, Steve Lacy soprano saxophone, Michael Smith - piano, recorded September 1, 1976 (Improvising Artists)